What Women Want In Their 30s

Casey Wonnenberg reports:

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With friends, family, and co-workers, finding time for all the relationships in your life can be difficult. In fact, it can be such a struggle that all of the women we talked with during a special roundtable identified it as a major stressor in their lives.

Seven-month-old Lloyd Bofenkamp is a blessing to his parents Nathan and Erin. But they knew from the day he was born their lives would change dramatically. One thing they did not want to change was their relationships.

"You spend all this time in your life building up friendships and relationships with your family. I want Lloyd to be a part of that and not take away from that," Erin said.

But with jobs, errands and housework, the Bofenkamp's calendar, like many others, fills up fast.

"I always wanted to go back to work after I had Lloyd. I knew I could still have my career and a kid. It's definitely a lot of work but they're all things I wanted in my life," Erin said.

"We can get so scheduled and so torn in many directions that it's important to even just plan for that time to have a cup of coffee together or turn off the distractions, the TV or all the things that are going on and just be still together," Sanford Healthy Lifestyle Coach Shelly Hoefs said.

Healthy Lifestyle Coach Shelly Hoefs says it's important to even take advantage of little opportunities, like a walk, to spend time with your significant other because it can help your marriage in a big way.

"Because then we can open up and share what's going on, how am I feeling and truly meet each others needs by listening," Hoefs said.

For the Bofenkamps that's meant buying a stroller and a bike carrier.

"A lot of times we just bring Lloyd with us. We'll go out to eat and that kind of thing. We are lucky because we have Nate's parents who live about a mile away from us. They love to spend time with him. Then we can go out with friends and each other," Erin said.

It's time well-spent because the two say they want to be happy not just for themselves but for their little boy.

"I hope he observes us and sees how we live our lives," Nathan said.

Balancing relationships is one of four issues we're focusing on this week as part of our What Women Want discussion. We've posted a poll, asking women what issue they struggle with most: finding personal time, balancing time among different relationships, managing a career, or dealing with change.